According to a solid source, Apple misrepresented the reasons behind MacWorld and Steve Jobs’ keynote cancellation. The real cause is his rapidly declining health. In fact, it may be even worse than we ever imagined:

Steves health is rapidly declining. Apple is choosing to remove the hype factor strategically vs letting the hype destroy apple when the inevitable news comes later this spring.

This strategic loss will be less of a bang with investors. This is why MacWorld is a no-go anymore. No more Steve means no more hype. Saying they are no longer needing [MacWorld] is the cover designed by the worldwide "loyalty" department.

This source has repeatedly been 100% correct before. Those times, however, were always related to news and images of unreleased Apple products. I can only hope that, in this more personal matter, it is absolutely wrong and this just means that Steve Jobs is retiring according to his plan.

While Steve Jobs’ health is nobody’s business—not the press, not investors, not the public—we believe that there’s a line between saying "no-comment" and plainly misleading—once again—the public.

According to our Deep Throat’s report, the fact seems to be that, whether or not Apple had other reasons to pull out of MacWorld, they weren’t the only ones, and they certainly weren’t the same ones used for not putting Steve Jobs through the ordeal of a two-hour presentation.